Dispatch from Crame No. 481:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement still on Sara Duterte's appalling claim that honesty is not an Election Issue

3/9/19

Davao City Mayor and Hugpong leader Sara Duterte has just summed up what the May 2019 Elections is all about. It is the choice between elective officials who are liars and those who still believe in honesty and integrity in government.

By saying that honesty is not an issue in the elections, Mayor Sara has just done the very opposite. She has made it the number one issue in the elections. What is now up for the judgment of the people is her father's own record of lying to the public and defending plunderers and thieves who are now either back in power or who were freed, only to run again for public office.

It is now up to the people to decide whether to keep a regime of liars, thieves, and plunderers, or to discard the status quo and choose a new breed of leaders who will fight for truth and accountability in government.

Honesty is a basic human value for any individual, public official or not, politician or not. It is the reflection of one's integrity that is constitutionally and morally demanded from public officials.

Mayor Sara has just revealed that cynicism about honesty and integrity in government is the bedrock principle of her father's administration. Once they have accepted this, they are further justified in abusing the powers of their high office by undermining the rule of law and destroying public institutions.

Because when the family in power and their sycophants believe that everybody lies anyway, they will themselves run a government based on lies and deception. There will be no premium on telling the truth. In the end, there will be no transparency or accountability, only the absolute tyranny of those who are in power.

This is what Duterte's government is all about. This is why his daughter Sara does not care about honesty, and believes that everybody lies anyway. These are the Duterte family values. They are not the values of the Filipino people. They must be rejected for the abomination they have turned this country into.